Fishing rod repair kit

ABSTRACT

A repair kit for fishing rods that has a replacement tip and a coupler to repair the shafts of the broken rods. The kit can be carried in the field as part of regular tackle box. The replacement tip is a formed body that has a threaded end. The ferrule is formed as part of the body so that is not susceptible to breakage. The ferrule can be also lined with a ceramic eyelet that reduces friction on the line passing through it as well as adding strength. The coupler is a two ended-part that has two formed tapered threads or two formed metal inserts inside the coupler. The coupler is twisted onto the end of the broken rod until it is secure. The other end of the broken rod is then twisted into the open end of the coupler. Once the second end of the rod is secure, the rod is again ready to use.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not Applicable

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to repair kits for fishing rods and particularlyto repair kits for fishing rods that use threaded connectors.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Fishing is a sport enjoyed by a large number of people. Millions offishing rods and assorted tackle are sold every year. Many of thefishing poles break because of mishandling, catching too large a fish,or many other reasons. Once the pole is broken (either at the tip oralong the length of the body, it is useless. Typically, pole breaksoccur in the field, where repair facilities are rare. As a result, manyof these broken plies are discarded in the field, cluttering up theoutdoors. Even if the poles are discarded properly, they constitute moretrash in already limited landfills.

One U.S. patent has been issued coving a fishing rod rip. Design Pat.D368,295 shows a small tip that has a cylindrical end that fits on thepole. The end then necks down to a conical shape. An angled memberextends upward and a simple ring to which a ferrule is attached. Whilethis tip can be used for repairs, it has some problems, the biggest ifwhich is that the ferrule is simply a ring attached to a thin member.This is a point of weakness that can fail, resulting in a second brokentip.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,860,485 teaches a tip for a fishing rod that s aboutfour to 10 inches long. Although the tip can be used for repairs, it isprimarily designed to be used with the base section of the pole toconvert it into an ice-fishing pole. The device is designed to fit intoa female ferrule on a rod. It uses a set of O-rings to hold the tip inplace. As noted above, the device can be used as a “repair”. However,since most breaks occur either at the tip of the end portion or in thebody of the end portion, if this device was used as a repair kit, itwould still result in many parts of the poles being dumped or abandonedin the field. Moreover, the device's length does not lend it to becarried as part of a repair kit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The instant invention overcomes these problems. It is a repair kit thathas a replacement tip and a coupler to repair the shafts of the brokenrods. The kit can be carried in the field as part of regular tackle box.The parts are lightweight and self-contained. They need no tools to makethe repairs. Moreover, the repairs produce a rod of similar strength andflexibility as the original.

The kit has two main parts: a replacement tip and a coupler (of coursemore of these parts can be provided in the kit). The replacement tip isa formed body that has a threaded end. The ferrule is formed as part ofthe body so that is not susceptible to breakage. The ferrule is alsolined with a ceramic eyelet that reduces friction on the line passingthrough it as well as adding strength. The coupler is a two ended-partthat has formed tapered threads inside formed from molding or castingthe part, or a tapered threaded metal piece inserted inside. The coupleris twisted onto the end of the broken rod until it is secure. The otherend of the broken rod is then twisted into the open end of the coupler.Once the second end of the rod is secure, the rod is again ready to use.In this way, damaged fishing rods can be easily repaired in the field,which allows a user to continue fishing without difficulty as well aseliminating waste and trash from the wilds.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a forward perspective view of the tip replacement part of theinvention.

FIG. 2 is a rearward perspective view of the tip replacement part of theinvention.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the tip replacement part of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a side cross-sectional view of the tip replacement part of theinvention.

FIG. 5 s a perspective view of the coupler part of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective x-ray view of the coupler part of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a detail view of the coupler part of the invention shown inpreparation of a repair with a portion of a broken fishing rod.

FIG. 8 is detail view showing the coupler part of the invention alignedwith one part of a broken fishing rod.

FIG. 9 is detail view showing the coupler part of the invention beingtwisted onto the broken portion of the fishing rod.

FIG. 10 is a detail view showing the second portion of the brokenfishing rod aligned with the coupler and being turned to fit into theend of the coupler.

FIG. 11 is a detail view showing the repaired fishing rod with thecoupler in place.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to FIGS. 1–4, the first components of the system is thereplacement tip 1. The replacement tip 1 is designed to fit over abroken tip of a fishing rod. The replacement tip 1 has a horizontal tubeportion 1 and an angled eye portion 3. The horizontal tube portion 2 isa cylinder that has one open end. The inside of the horizontal tubeportion 2 is threaded with a series of threads 4 (see FIG. 4). In thepreferred embodiment, the replacement tip 1 is made of plastic. However,the tip may also be formed in metal or cast in ceramic, if desired. Thethreads formed in any of these materials are designed to adhere to thefiber material from which today's fishing rods are made.

At the other end of the horizontal tube portion 2 is the angled eyeportion 3. Unlike the prior art tips, which have a ring held by a thinstrip of material, the replacement tip 1 of this invention has an eyethat is formed of a relatively large mass of material, which is formedas part of a continuous structure with the horizontal tube portion 2.This solid continuous structure produces a strong tip that is lesslikely to bend or break after repeated use. A hole 5 is formed in thecenter of the angled eye portion 3 as shown. In the preferredembodiment, the hole 5 is reinforced with a ceramic eyelet 6. Theceramic eyelet 6 adds strength to the hole 5 and provides a smooth, lowfriction surface for the fishing line.

FIG. 3 shows the threads 4 as well as the hole 5 and ceramic eyelet 6from an end view.

FIG. 4 shows a cross-section of the device showing the internal threads5, the solid structure between the horizontal tube portion 2 and theangled eye portion 3, and the ceramic eyelet 6.

The replacement tip is used by cleaning a broken end of a fishing rod,placing the replacement tip 1 on the cleaned end, and screwing thereplacement tip onto the end until it is fully seated on the rod. Oncethe hole 5 is aligned with the other fishing line guides on the rod, therod is ready for use.

The second part of this invention is a repair coupler 10. This componentis used to make repairs on the body of the rod. FIG. 5 shows aperspective view of the coupler 10. FIG. 11 shows an “x-ray” view of thecoupler 10, showing the internal components. The coupler 10 is acylinder that is open at both ends. A pair of tapered threaded portions11 is inside the cylinder as shown. The tapered threaded portions 11 canbe threads formed during molding or casting or a pair of tapered,threaded metal pieces inserted into the cylinder. In the preferredembodiment, the threaded portion 11 is formed by plastic injectionmolding.

The tapered threads act to grip down on the rod material to ensure thesplice formed by the coupler holds under all conditions.

FIG. 7 shows the coupler above a broken rod 100. The rod has twopieces—100 a and 100 b. In the preferred embodiment, the couplercomponents come in different diameters to enable repairs to be madeanywhere on the rod.

FIG. 8 shows the coupler 10 aligned with rod piece 100 a. FIG. 9 showsthe coupler 10 being screwed onto the rod piece 100 a. FIG. 10 shows therod piece 100 b aligned with the other end of the coupler 10. Thisfigure also shows that the rod piece 100 b is rotated in the oppositedirection from the rod piece and coupler combination from the previousstep. Finally, FIG. 11 shows the completed repair. The rod is nowreassembled with the coupler and is ready to use.

The present disclosure should not be construed in any limited senseother than that limited by the scope of the claims having regard to theteachings herein and the prior art being apparent with the preferredform of the invention disclosed herein and which reveals details ofstructure of a preferred form necessary for a better understanding ofthe invention and may be subject to change by skilled persons within thescope of the invention without departing from the concept thereof.

1. A repair device for fishing rod tips comprising: a) a fixture havinga threaded lower portion having a width, and being a single piece, andan angled eye portion having a hole therein, wherein the hole in saidangled eye portion has a diameter smaller than the width of the threadedlower portion, said threaded lower portion and said angled eye portionbeing an integrated single form; and b) a reinforcing member, fixedlyinstalled in said angled eye portion within the hole in said angled eyeportion.
 2. The repair device for fishing rod tips of claim 1 whereinthe threaded lower portion has a tapered internal cavity having aplurality of threads therein.
 3. The repair device for fishing rod tipsof claim 1 wherein the reinforcing member comprises a ceramic eyelet. 4.The repair device for fishing rod tips of claim 1 wherein the materialin which the fixture is made is selected from the group of plastic,metal or ceramic.